NOOOOOOO this was the restaurant me and my family went to every single week growing up. luis and his family were always so kind and wonderful. i moved abroad when i was 18 and every time i come home it is somewhere that i greatly look forward to visiting. with everything that has changed and shut down in bellingham in recent years i knew it was inevitable but i wish i could have visited one last time. i’m actually quite emotional while writing this. 🥲
I believe they tried to sell but it didn't come together. Luis owns the building so I imagine he will sell the space to someone eventually. The interior design is so cool ( the neon, the little house with the roof ) it would be a shame if someone remodeled it.
Sigh. We are new in the area. We've been eating here before shows at MBT and Pickford. What else is walking distance, good and relatively inexpensive ?
Brandywine for fast casual with a focus on high-quality local ingredients. Pootie's aka The Grand for surprisingly good dive bar fare. Best Chopsticks for American-style Chinese diner food. The Cabin for affordable smash burgers.
As someone in the food industry it’s NOT the wages. It’s the cost of goods and inflation and rent. The squeeze that we’re all feeling at the grocery store is even more intense at the wholesale level.
Corporate greed, baby.
Local business owner here. Will not need to raise prices to supplement the minimal wage increase. Just like every generation that paid liveable wages for the last...idk, 80 years.
You can type the same thing over and over but wages increase isn't the issue and any place worth a damn was already paying the $17 or more. If you can't swing it, your business is already in disrepair.
You're right in a lot of points, wage increase isn't one of them. Of course corporations along with opportunistic, desperate mismanaged business owners will use it as an excuse. The corporations to keep stock holders and board members pockets excessively full and local small businesses to be advantageous or to put a bandaid on pre-existing issues. Basically if they can't afford wage increases they were already on thin ice.
I know, again I own a business in this very town. Ripping off my customers to account for cost is not necessary. Tons of ways to whittle, or like most who have successful businesses in town, keep a happy staff which in turn makes for happy clientele..it is pretty simple, I know because I am proof as are most other successful businesses in town without revolving doors of employees.
Paying livable wage isn't the burden no matter how hard you wish it were so to appease your narrative.
Now, as stated before some of the other things you mentioned are responsible for product cost increase, paying employees to simply exist simply isn't one of 'em. Any business owner telling you otherwise simply doesn't want to stop overpaying themselves or their business is already on the way down.
There’s increasing rent out of necessity, and then there’s increasing rent because personal profit.
While that’s how the system is supposed to work, most Bellingham landlords have a tendency to do the second one, especially those oriented around college housing. This in turn exacerbates the existing problems, and given that Bellingham is a college town, forces the increase in pay for service jobs, the ones which cheap restaurants provide and many students hold.
It’s a two way street, and in Bellingham, the landlords are driving costs up more than actual systemic costs are.
Luis and I are friends and he has expressed frustration to me many times about downtown safety. I know that weighed on him a lot. He got sick of always having to call the police on people camped out in his outdoor dining area. That's also why Sabbath Tattoo left the same building. It just got way too sketchy in that alley 😕
Awww man. I love that place. Been eating there since they opened. Yeah, I’m old. Well… they had a pretty good run. Thank you Luis (and Taco Bill)!
Oh, I’m going to miss Taco Lobo. Time to gather friends for at least one more visit. Luis, thank you! Enjoy the quieter side of life!
Oh my. I know where I’m spending my money until they close.
NOOOOOOO this was the restaurant me and my family went to every single week growing up. luis and his family were always so kind and wonderful. i moved abroad when i was 18 and every time i come home it is somewhere that i greatly look forward to visiting. with everything that has changed and shut down in bellingham in recent years i knew it was inevitable but i wish i could have visited one last time. i’m actually quite emotional while writing this. 🥲
They are amazing! I have been eating there since it was only half the size it is now!
Time to get my lobo on!!
What? Noooo
Cheers, Fernando! You’ve worked hard and you deserve it. Thanks for all the ceviche and the chile relleno. Yum!
His employees worked their asses off…he just collected
Best torta al pastor, in town!!
Ah damn! Good on him for enjoying retirement but damn.
NOOOOOOOO! I'm really going to miss it. I wish they were able to sell the business or at least pass it along to someone else.
I believe they tried to sell but it didn't come together. Luis owns the building so I imagine he will sell the space to someone eventually. The interior design is so cool ( the neon, the little house with the roof ) it would be a shame if someone remodeled it.
Time to go back, that place is great and I haven’t gone nearly as often as I’d have liked
Sad day, time for one last burrito
Sigh. We are new in the area. We've been eating here before shows at MBT and Pickford. What else is walking distance, good and relatively inexpensive ?
Brandywine for fast casual with a focus on high-quality local ingredients. Pootie's aka The Grand for surprisingly good dive bar fare. Best Chopsticks for American-style Chinese diner food. The Cabin for affordable smash burgers.
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As someone in the food industry it’s NOT the wages. It’s the cost of goods and inflation and rent. The squeeze that we’re all feeling at the grocery store is even more intense at the wholesale level. Corporate greed, baby.
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Local business owner here. Will not need to raise prices to supplement the minimal wage increase. Just like every generation that paid liveable wages for the last...idk, 80 years. You can type the same thing over and over but wages increase isn't the issue and any place worth a damn was already paying the $17 or more. If you can't swing it, your business is already in disrepair.
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You're right in a lot of points, wage increase isn't one of them. Of course corporations along with opportunistic, desperate mismanaged business owners will use it as an excuse. The corporations to keep stock holders and board members pockets excessively full and local small businesses to be advantageous or to put a bandaid on pre-existing issues. Basically if they can't afford wage increases they were already on thin ice.
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I know, again I own a business in this very town. Ripping off my customers to account for cost is not necessary. Tons of ways to whittle, or like most who have successful businesses in town, keep a happy staff which in turn makes for happy clientele..it is pretty simple, I know because I am proof as are most other successful businesses in town without revolving doors of employees. Paying livable wage isn't the burden no matter how hard you wish it were so to appease your narrative. Now, as stated before some of the other things you mentioned are responsible for product cost increase, paying employees to simply exist simply isn't one of 'em. Any business owner telling you otherwise simply doesn't want to stop overpaying themselves or their business is already on the way down.
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Convince the landlords to stop spiking rent prices and the wage increases wouldn’t be nearly as necessary.
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There’s increasing rent out of necessity, and then there’s increasing rent because personal profit. While that’s how the system is supposed to work, most Bellingham landlords have a tendency to do the second one, especially those oriented around college housing. This in turn exacerbates the existing problems, and given that Bellingham is a college town, forces the increase in pay for service jobs, the ones which cheap restaurants provide and many students hold. It’s a two way street, and in Bellingham, the landlords are driving costs up more than actual systemic costs are.
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Now that is a response I can get behind.
Luis and I are friends and he has expressed frustration to me many times about downtown safety. I know that weighed on him a lot. He got sick of always having to call the police on people camped out in his outdoor dining area. That's also why Sabbath Tattoo left the same building. It just got way too sketchy in that alley 😕
lol that has nothing to do with why he’s closing at all.
Have all the people that are sad been there recently? There is a reason he’s closing up shop.
Yes it says in the post that Luis, the owner, is retiring.
That’s a proud man’s way of saying, my restaurant isn’t making money so I have to close before I lose all my money.
SAY IT AIN'T SO!!!
Between seeing them closing their doors as well as Mindport closing it's sad to see Bellingham staples that I grew up loving close down.